China agrees to bolster purchases of US goods, in move to ‘substantially reduce’ trade gap

Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) waves to the press as he walks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, April 7, 2017.

China as well as also the U.S. have mutually agreed to “substantially reduce” the yawning trade imbalance between the two countries, a joint statement read on Saturday, in a move which will involve the Chinese boosting more of what they buy through American producers.

Amid fears of a global trade war as well as also rising tensions between the globe’s two largest economies, both China as well as also the U.S. have entered bilateral talks to bolster cooperation. In a statement issued by the White House, both parties forged a “consensus on taking effective measures to substantially reduce the United States trade deficit in goods with China.”

Just a day ago, both countries were sharply at odds over a claim, made by White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow, which China would likely move to cut its trade deficit with the U.S. by $0 billion annually. which characterization was disputed by Chinese officials.

Left unclear was exactly how much the Chinese would likely boost its purchases of U.S. goods. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday which China’s delegation rebuffed American demands to commit to an exact deficit reduction figure, as well as also the two sides bickered all night over the statement’s language.

The trade imbalance has long been a thorny as well as also intractable topic within the Sino-US relationship. Commerce Department data recently showed which imbalance between what China buys through the U.S. as well as also vice versa hit a record in 2017 at over $375 billion.

However, President Donald Trump has staked a resolution of the dispute on his personal relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This particular week, Kudlow stated which China was “meeting many” Trump administration demands to cut its U.S. surplus.

“President Xi as well as also I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade,” Trump said in an April tweet.